Book Review: The Temenos Remains, DCI Greg Geldard Book 4, Heather Peck
Mystery: The Temenos Remains, DCI Greg Geldard Book 4, Heather Peck
Blog Tour March 3, 2023
Archaeologists at a dig often find human remains during the course of their work. Usually those remains date to the time frame of the people who left the site: Pompeiians buried under volcanic ash, Mongol warriors buried near a battle, Anasazi near their cliff dwellings. Much less common is to find a victim with modern dental work and a 1910 coin at an old worship site.
DCI Greg Geldard and his team are brought in to investigate. They learn that the victim was a young woman, but cannot identify her right away. The coin, though, does open up some lines of investigation: two other women in two other areas were also buried with a silver coin in their mouths. The words no cop or citizen wants to hear (although the press is rabidly eager to say) soon enter the conversation: serial killer.
The team is also distracted by Greg’s ex-wife revealing a threat she received from an unknown caller, warning of consequences if Greg did not stop meddling in certain affairs. Although the caller was unknown, the threat vague, and the affairs not further described, the team feels certain that it must be related to his work against Lithuanian gangsters. Without more information, though, the team has to put that aside for more pressing duties. A major storm has rolled in and all hands are needed for evacuation and other duties. And the storm not only floods and damages the town. It also reveals a fourth body buried in similar fashion to the other three.
One of the things I love about this series is just the dogged pursuit of every clue by a dedicated team. This is not a book where a brilliant loner finds clues no one else could have spotted and comes to a conclusion no one else could see. This is a committed team working together to chase down every lead, follow every trail, explore every dead-end hoping to find the breakthrough needed to solve the case. Geldard is laser-focused on finding justice for victims and protecting the community from harm. Living in the broken and cynical dystopian paradise of the United States, that kind of noble dedication is very refreshing.
Can we make this series required reading in police academies? I mean, I’m sure professionals would find things to fault, but I’m tired of reading about young people being killed by cops for crimes of holding a cell phone in their grandmother’s backyard, or playing video games with their nephew, or selling cigarettes. A little more of this fictional cop’s heart would be welcome in the real world.
Our thanks to Anne Cater from Random Things for our copy of The Temenos Remains, given so we could participate in this blog tour. The opinions here are solely those of Scintilla. For other perspectives on this novel, check out the other bloggers on this tour.
Book Review: The Temenos Remains, DCI Greg Geldard Book 4, Heather Peck
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